A Pressurised Steam Generator (“PSG”) iron is a steam iron with high steam output. Steam is usually generated in a separate steam generator located in a stand away from the iron. A hose connecting the steam generator and the iron delivers the steam to the iron upon activation of an electro-valve actuated by a user-operated button on the iron. However, the relatively cold hose connecting the steam generator and the iron, especially during initial start-up for the apparatus, causes the steam to condense onto the inner wall of the hose during delivery. This results in an undesirable amount of liquid water being delivered to the iron together with the steam, which may cause spitting of water from the iron.
Known PSG irons may include a high heat capacity soleplate with one or more embedded heating elements which stores enough energy to re-evaporate any condensed water supplied via the hose from the steam generator. In addition to this required thermal mass of the soleplate, the power of the heating element(s) should be sufficient to reheat the soleplate back to a pre-determined set temperature, and such heating elements may have a power of around 800 W. Consequently, the soleplate mass is high and is a major factor in the overall weight of the iron. The resulting heavy iron makes prolonged use tiring and also makes vertical ironing/steaming difficult.
An alternative known method of preventing spitting due to condensed water formed in a steam iron hose is to employ a water-steam separator. Such an apparatus is described in WO/1999/025915A1. However this type of solution requires an additional means to handle the separated water and so does not facilitate provision of a lighter weight iron, since the additional parts of the water separation means lead to added weight. Furthermore, some known irons include a water return system to delivery condensed water back to the reservoir in the stand. However, the cord connecting the iron to the stand therefore needs two hoses (for steam delivery to the iron, and water return to the stand), which means the hose cord is stiff and heavy, restricting movement of the iron during ironing and reducing overall manoeuvrability of the iron.
Within the terms of Art. 54(3) European Patent Convention, it is known from EP2808439 (filed on May 6, 2014, published on Dec. 3, 2014) to provide a steam iron comprising a soleplate, a heating element for heating the soleplate, an inlet junction comprising a first inlet for receiving input steam from a steam generator and a second inlet, a water-steam separator connected to the inlet junction to receive steam from the inlet junction and separate steam from condensed water entrained in the steam, an evaporation chamber connected to the water-steam separator to receive condensed water from the water-steam separator and including a surface heated by said heating element to generate evaporated water from said condensed water, the evaporation chamber being connected to the second inlet, wherein the inlet junction comprises a venturi effect nozzle for expelling said input steam and to generate a reduced pressure in the region of the second inlet to draw said evaporated water into the inlet junction.